The obsessively controlled world of a high-strung therapist begins to come apart when she inherits a pair of old, neurotic Shih Tzus.

Ever since getting sober a few years ago, Allison Hilborn-Tatro has been dedicated to achieving what she calls "radical stability" in her life. She’s up before five each morning and asleep by nine every night. Her days as a family therapist and mother to one good-natured Labradoodle are orchestrated down to the minute, with little room for anything unexpected to barge in and knock her off the wagon.

That is, until the death of a neighbor she barely knew leaves her in possession of his two orphaned Shih Tzus. Not long after Coco and Nikki arrive at her door, Allison can feel her white-knuckled grip on her own existence start to slip. At first, her furry new wards demand more space in her life - and in her bed - than Allison’s willing to make for them. Before long, Coco and Nikki have not only barged into her tightly wound world, they’ve taken over. But instead of knocking her off the wagon, as she feared, they just might set her free.

Irreverent, honest, and utterly life affirming, A Dog Year reveals the ways in which a dog’s love can avail us to parts of ourselves we didn’t know were there. All the while Allison thought she was rescuing Coco and Nikki, she never expected they would be the ones saving her.